Move over Martha. (And I’m not talking Stewart this time)

I just finished a couple of marathon weeks. And they weren’t the kind of marathons where you strap on your favorite Hoka running shoes and hit the pavement for miles and miles. It was the life/work marathon. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. Where we have commitments 6 out of the 7 days and evenings. Where children and adults alike are shuttled to school, work, their activities, and home again to lay their weary heads on their pillows only to get up and do it again. Its a pace that requires organization and stamina. And it’s a pace that, if kept for long periods of time, can bring depletion and exhaustion.

I scored 2 hours to myself today, in the quiet of my own home. This is a rarity. Especially after the last couple of weeks I’ve had. I found myself scurrying around the house that had been quite neglected. Trying to do the things that had been left to the bottom of the priority list. And then I saw the sun coming though the window on one of the chairs in the living room. And I just had to sit. I reached for my Bible, which has also been pushed to the bottom of that priority list and I read this.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ” Martha, Martha”, the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about may things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her”. Luke 10:38-42

You can probably make the parallel for yourself right here. I am Martha in so many ways. I get so stuck on the doing. It becomes my mission and focus. I don’t make the choice that is better. I forget that the one thing I need to fuel me on these marathon weeks, slips to the bottom of the priority list.

The holidays are coming. I’m going to be doing a lot of preparations that come along with them. Because I’m Martha like that. But I’m also going to do something else. I’m going to post the verses above on my bathroom mirror to keep in the forefront of my mind that I need to choose what is better and won’t be taken away from me before I dive in and get lost in the busyness. I challenge you to do the same. Who’s with me?